


U Da Balm

by braiawrites



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Asraella's Somewhere Called Home, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Kira Case, Yoga, sfw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:14:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28556703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/braiawrites/pseuds/braiawrites
Summary: Kathryn talks an exhausted L into taking a break from the Kira case to do yoga with her.
Relationships: L (Death Note)/Original Character(s), L (Death Note)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	U Da Balm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Asraella](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asraella/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Somewhere Called Home](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24765880) by [Asraella](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asraella/pseuds/Asraella). 



> A gift for my dear Asraella! For those of you who don’t know, Asraella has an amazing story entitled Somewhere Called Home, which is basically the Kira case but if someone else had agreed with L about Light being Kira. It features her female OC, Kathryn, who is the most wonderful, spunkiest, intuitive woman and imo such a perfect match for everyone’s favourite sleep-deprived detective! This story is about Kathryn and L!

The world’s greatest detective was crouched in his usual position, left thumb on his bottom lip and right hand on the computer mouse as he scrolled through pages of reports and inconclusive evidence. A heavy sigh rattled past his lips unbidden; the Kira case was running away from him and for the first time in a long time he felt utterly unable to keep up.

“L,” Kathryn said from the couch, looking up from the autopsies she was studying for the sixteenth time.

“Hm?”

She set the files carefully on the coffee table and stood, stretching her cramped muscles. “L, my darling detective,” the words fought past a yawn, “I think it’s time to sleep.”

The detective’s only response was a non-committal grunt that set Kathryn frowning.

“The others left hours ago,” she tried to reason with him. “Can you at least take a break and come eat some real food? I make a mean microwaved hot pocket!”

L pulled the keyboard closer to himself and began to type, never looking up from the bright glow of the screen. “I will, Love, but not yet. If you are tired, you are welcome to rest. There is no need for you to force yourself to remain awake for my sake.”

“If you’re up, I’m up, darling.” Crossing the room to his desk, she yawned again, peering over his shoulder at the empty coffee cup. “Would you like me to get you some more?”

“Hm? No, thank you. Watari can do that. You should go to sleep, Ryn. I will join you when I can.”

“Watari has retired for the night, remember? You told him three hours ago not to wait up for us.”

L frowned gently. “Hm, yes. I suppose I did say that, didn’t I.”

“I can get you some more, if you like,” she offered again.

He felt his office chair tip back slightly as Kathryn leaned on it from behind, her fingers kneading into the muscles at the base of his neck. “That won’t be necessary. I’m sure you are quite tired, Ryn.”

He could hear the frown in her voice as she chided him: “I am tired, L, but at least I’ve slept more than 20 minutes at a time for the past week. You haven’t taken your eyes off that screen in hours and this is the second day in row that you’ve barely left your chair. I can literally feel the stress radiating off you!” She gave his shoulders a tight squeeze to demonstrate her point. Then, softer, she added, “I know you’re frustrated and I know we haven’t had a lead in a while, but we’ve looked over the same case files a million times—evidence isn’t going to just appear.”

“We may have overlooked a crucial detail,” L mumbled. He finally tore his eyes from the screen, if only to look at his toes, curling and uncurling them on the soft fabric of his chair.

Kathryn sighed. “At this point, you’re so tired that I doubt you’d find anything new, even if there were something.” She leaned down to wrap her arms around him, resting her chin on his shoulder. “Please, L. You’re running yourself into the ground. Take a break, try to sleep, and then you can come back and look at it all with fresh eyes.”

L shook his head. “I am afraid taking a break right now is impossible,” he said. “There must be something here, some clue, even a _shred_ of evidence to—”

“L, please!” Kathryn snapped and the detective froze mid-sentence. It wasn’t often she raised her voice at anyone, especially him.

He poked his desk tentatively, spinning his chair to face a rather frustrated, rather worried Kathryn, hands propped on her hips.

“Tired people make mistakes,” she said more softly, running a hand down her face. “Remember what happened last time you let yourself get this tired?”

“Kathryn, I neither need nor want an ‘I told you so’ about that,” he snapped back.

“That’s not—”

“There are lives at stake here. The lives of the entire task force, my life, _your_ life! If I am correct about—about _everything_ —then there is a 96% chance that Light Yagami is Kira. And that means that he knows of your existence and that you are connected to me, if not the exact nature of that connection. That puts you in danger, Kathryn. Perhaps more danger than anyone on this task force, if he sees you as a means to get to me. And—and I can’t let that happen, Ryn.” He met her gaze at last, his grey-blue eyes simmering with determination above dark, bruise-like circles. “I just need a lead.” _And I need you to be safe._

“No, what you need is to take a break,” she said sternly, “and if you won’t do so willingly then I swear I will drag you out of that chair myself and make you take one. And for the record, L, I can’t believe you would think me the type to say ‘I told you so’, especially about this!” She spread her arms wide, gesturing to the entirety of HQ. “I didn’t say any of the stuff I said because I feel any satisfaction in being right. I said it because I can’t watch the man I lo—care about get hurt again.”

Kathryn’s hand found its way to his cheek and he found himself leaning into her touch. “I apologize, Ryn-kun,” he said, placing his own, cold hand atop hers. “I did not intend to insinuate that you would ever take any satisfaction in being right.” Subconsciously, his free hand drifted to where his stitches were mostly healed.

“I know,” she said. “And I understand, L, I do! You want to keep me safe. I want you to be safe, too. But we can do that better by working together than by planning secret things behind each other’s backs and stressing ourselves out reading the same files over and over. Okay?”

“Yes, okay.”

“Now will you try to take a break for a little bit? I promise you, nothing drastic is going to change in those documents if you step away for an hour to relax.”

L hummed, then looked up to meet her eyes. “Ryn-kun?”

“Yes, L-kun?” She smiled.

“I do not think I know how to relax right now.”

Her grin grew and she clapped her hands, clasping them together. “Leave that to me.”

…

Fifteen minutes later, L had traded his regular pants for a pair of soft, never-worn pajama bottoms, the only non-jean thing he owned, and was standing outside Kathryn’s half opened door. Soft light glowed from within.

He knocked, tentatively, and awaited her soft response before nudging the door open.

Kathryn sat criss-cross on the floor, wearing leggings and a tank top, her hair tied back in a low ponytail. Candles flickered around the room, setting a comfortable, quiet atmosphere, and slow, wordless music played softly in the background.

“What is this?” L asked, still standing in the doorway.

“Welcome to your own personal yoga class,” Kathryn grinned. “About two years ago, one of my friends insisted that I come try a class with them to help me get rid of stress from work. I don’t do it regularly but every once in a while it’s a nice way to relax.” She patted the floor next to her. “Come sit.”

L shuffled over to her, then settled into his usual position. “Does this count?” The barest ghost of a smile touched his lips.

“Not quite,” came the softly laughing response, and he lowered himself to sit cross-legged, facing her.

She guided him through some simple exercises first—fixing his posture, lengthening his spine, gently stretching his neck out—all the while focusing on deep, even breathing. They spent a veritable amount of time on his upper back and shoulders, especially, an area that had unfortunately been the main victim of his stress and bad posture.

One hour and a full body stretch later, L was lying on his back, left arm bent beside his head and legs bent to the right. He found himself drifting off as he listened to Kathryn’s low voice, speaking soothingly into the candlelit room.

“Bring your legs back to centre,” she said, barely louder than a whisper, and he heard the sounds of soft shuffling as she followed her own instruction. “You can stretch them down or bring them up to your chest—whichever feels right to you.” The last part was an oft-repeated phrase that her yoga teacher had used. This was about being comfortable and relaxed and in tune with one’s body, she’d explained in hushed tones, so if something didn’t feel right, there was no need to force it.

L chose the latter position, curling into a ball on his back, his hand gripping his knees as he rested comfortably on the floor, eyes closed, chest rising and falling with each slow, steady breath.

“And stretch out, still on your back.” Again, the _shush_ of fabric on fabric as the two of them moved to lay flat on the floor. “Let your arms rest at your sides, palm up.” L did, focusing on the sound of her voice and the feel of the air flowing through his lungs. He smiled, gently, contentedly, as he lay on the floor of Kathryn’s room, her voice a balm to soothe his worries.

L felt at peace for the first time in weeks.

…

Kathryn drew herself slowly to a seated position, opening her eyes to the soft glow of her candles. She smiled at the sight of her darling detective, fast asleep on her floor.

Climbing to her feet, she padded softly to her bed, dragged their blanket from atop her duvet, and brought it back to the floor where L slept. She spread it over him, then lifted a corner and slipped under herself, careful not to disturb him.

“Sweet dreams, sweet L,” she whispered, brushing a strand of dark hair away from his face. “I love you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hello dear reader! Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to leave kudos/comment and let me know what you thought!   
> If you want to read more of Kathryn, you can go check out Asraella's AO3, or find her on Tumblr (@the-l-chronicles and @my-one-true-l)! Asraella writes some WONDERFUL Death Note headcanons, microfics, and way way more, so if you’re interested, I promise, it’s well worth it ;) !


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